Glennkill

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Glennkill is the first novel by the German writer Leonie Swann , published by Goldmann Verlag in August 2005 . The book was a bestseller for several years, and in 2007 the paperback remained number one for several months on the bestseller list determined on behalf of Spiegel . A special feature of the crime thriller is that the story set in Ireland is told from the perspective of sheep.

Plot and characters

content

The shepherd George Glenn is found stabbed to death with a spade in his pasture one morning. His sheep decide to find the killer, whom they imagine as a human wolf. They are inspired by a crime thriller that the shepherd once read to them. First they suspect the butcher Ham, who scares them, and the local pastor, whom they call "God" because he greets the people in his church in God's house.

During the night a few men try to break into George's shepherd's wagon and speak of “grass”, which confuses the sheep, given the overabundance of grass in the pasture. The next morning the other shepherd in the village, Gabriel, drives his flock to the pasture and also takes care of George's flock. It quickly becomes clear that he too just wants to get into the car. A man from the village finally brings him the key he found with George's widow, but before they can unlock the car, a magpie steals the bundle and flies away.

On the same day, an unknown woman appears in the meadow, whom the sheep call the "red woman" because of her red dress and who, based on her smell, identify her as the daughter of George. She is accompanied by the merciful Beth - the nun from the village. They have a picnic and the red woman asks about George. Beth invites you to come and see her in the evening, then they can talk in peace. The sheep that overhear the conversation send an expedition to talk, consisting of Mopple the Whale, the only sheep with a good memory, the black Othello with the four horns and Miss Maple, the smartest sheep of the herd. They learn that the red woman's name is Rebecca and that Beth believes something is wrong in the village. Seven years earlier she had been abroad and when she came back everything was different. Then Mopple gets colic because he ate the geraniums from Beth's flower pot, and the sheep are distracted.

The next morning brings with it some confusion: the leading ram Sir Richfield is suddenly in the pasture in duplicate. After a short interlude, during which half the herd lies on their backs, stretching their legs in the air and bleating, it turns out that it is Richfield's twin brother Melmoth, who disappeared as a lamb. Melmoth tells of the night he disappeared: George and the butcher had chased him to recapture him. While fleeing, Melmoth had kicked loose debris in a quarry, whereupon the body of "Wiesel" McCarthy from the village came to light, stabbed and slain with a spade. Ham found that the body was at least three days old, but that morning several customers had claimed they had been to the pub with the dead man the night before. These people must be involved in the murder. George and Ham notice that someone has overheard them and decide to copy the footage from the surveillance camera from the butcher's shop containing the statements and bring them to the lawyer as insurance.

Later the sheep overhear a conversation between Ham and God, in which God is amazed that no one confessed the murder to him this time. Maple believes that this time around, people didn't act as a herd and distrust one another. They identify Gabriel as the main ram of the human herd and decide to get rid of him, which is why they pretend to be sick. Fearing for his own sheep, Gabriel disappears.

When the will is opened later that day, and the sheep also go, it turns out that the pasture goes to Rebecca and George's money goes to the sheep, causing general confusion. Rebecca wants to move into the trailer, so Melmoth persuades the magpie to return the key. In addition, the sheep lure Rebecca to the hiding place in the pasture, in which George hides his parcels, which turn out to be the ominous human grass. George acted as a smuggler for a syndicate, tying the parcels under the sheep when they changed pasture.

In the evening Rebecca reads a story to the sheep in which the ghosts of the dead pursue their murderers. Miss Maple realizes that Beth is haunted by George's ghost: at the picnic, she was scared and couldn't get into the shepherd's wagon. The sheep decide to expose Beth in the Smartest Sheep of Glennkill Contest and stage a small play. People don't understand what the play is supposed to represent, but when the butcher tries to catch Mopple and chases halfway through the pub, he drops his prop, a handkerchief that Beth once gave to George. Beth picks it up and confesses: George wanted to kill himself and came to Beth to say goodbye. To make it look like murder, so that George would be properly buried, Beth decided to help him. George had the idea with the spade. He poisoned himself.

Although the sheep have a problem with the concept of suicide, which they consider to be extremely stupid, they are ultimately satisfied with the explanation that the wolf is inside man.

The sheep

Miss Maple is the smartest sheep in the flock. It got its name because she stole the maple syrup from the bread as a lamb, the shepherd George.

Othello is a black ram with four horns who used to live in the circus. This makes him the most experienced sheep in the flock. George had planned that Othello would lead the herd as the new lead ram on the European trip.

Mopple the Whale is the only sheep with a good memory because it never forgets anything once it remembers it. He is also the only sheep that is not a woolly sheep, but a meat breed; George bought it to bring "fresh blood" into the herd.

Sir Richfield is the lead ram. He's a little deaf and a little bit demented. The sheep think he has a hole and his mind drained. Mopple fears that it is contagious.

Melmoth, Richfield's twin brother, disappeared from the herd without a trace when they were both young.

Cloud is the wooliest sheep.

Zora is one of the younger sheep and the bravest sheep in the flock.

The winter lamb does not yet have a name because it is still too young. The sheep generally find the winter lamb scary because it was born at the wrong time of year.

reception

criticism

In the FAS it was stated that the novel could be seen as a mystery parody, especially since the author makes use of various literary cues, including from well-known works of literary history and from theology.

Ursula März critically noted in a glossy review in Die Zeit that the language was rather “simple and modest”, corresponding to the protagonists of the novel, and that the novel lacks depth. The success of the novel is ultimately attributed to the fact that the protagonists are, of all things, sheep.

Impact history

The book has been sold over 1.5 million times in Germany alone and has been translated into 30 languages. The first license for publication in other countries went to Great Britain, unusual for a debut detective novel.

In August 2006, the crime thriller was published as an audio book spoken by Andrea Sawatzki . Both Leonie Swann and Sawatzki received good reviews for their work. Swann has a writing style that, according to NDR Kultur , is told "briskly, with wit, poetic sensitivity and philosophical depth". According to Radio Eins Bremen , Sawatzki read the book "adorable".

Planned films

A film adaptation of the novel by UFA Cinema has been announced for the future . A film adaptation for the US market was initially rejected by the American side due to the complicated legal situation, after the producer Scott Frank and the authors Craig Mazin and Lindsay Doran had already developed a script over several years. On a podcast , Mazin described the situation as follows:

“The German production company had the rights for a German film adaptation, but not an American one. Before they couldn't agree on German film, we couldn't make one for the American market. So was it in development or not? In addition, the German version should also be a cartoon blah blah blah ....

And in the middle of it was this one man who was supposed to make all of this legally possible. And then he died. And at some point, after two or three years, the three of us [Mazin, Doran and Frank] thought to ourselves: 'Let's just leave it!' "

Finally, the UFA worked on a film adaptation as a CGI- animated family crime thriller in 3D. Meanwhile, Mazin is working on the script for the American film again.

continuation

In June 2010 the sequel Garou : A Sheep Thriller was released, this time also by Goldmann Verlag . The characteristic narrative perspective was retained, as were most of the characters. The location of the action is this time in France, which is also indicated by the title. The French word "Loup Garou" means werewolf .

literature

swell

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Buchreport.de: Glennkill ( Memento of the original from May 10, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.buchreport.de
  2. ↑ flair for success ; Review in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung on February 5, 2006, No. 5, p. 59
  3. ↑ Ursula Maerz: In the beginning there was the sheep ; Review in the time No. 11/2006 of March 9, 2006
  4. ↑ a b c UFA Cinema company film project page, accessed on January 3, 2010
  5. ↑ Helge Rehbein: Paperback bestseller: Exciting on all skins ; Criticism and report on SpiegelOnline.de from May 22, 2007.
  6. ↑ Scriptnotes, Ep. 36: Writer's block and other romantic myths - Transcript
  7. ↑ Scriptnotes, Ep. 265: Sheep Crossing Roads - Transcript